


A Fair Tax

by LadyBrooke



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Taxes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-23 05:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23272750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBrooke/pseuds/LadyBrooke
Summary: Celebrimbor can appreciate Caranthir's tax system, even if it is the cause of his current troubles.Lís just wants to read the book about the tax system.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30
Collections: Worldbuilding Exchange 2020





	A Fair Tax

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cherepashka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherepashka/gifts).



Lís looked up from the tax papers at Celebrimbor's sigh. It was not the first time Celebrimbor had sighed that day, but where the others had been full of boredom, this one seemed more sorrowful. "Are you well?" she asked, placing her own work to the side. 

Celebrimbor ran a hand over his face, looking painfully young and painfully old at the same time. Lís was reminded that this elf was, regardless of Narvi's mutterings about how naive Celebrimbor could be, old enough to have seen the First Age and to have known the great Dwarves of those days. 

"You would think," Celebrimbor began, before stopping and looking down at the book in his hands again. Lís had not seen that book before, but Celebrimbor had mentioned needing to consult some First Age treatise about taxes in order to prepare his own share to send to his king. The book itself was weathered, paper old and stained with age, unlike most of the books on Celebrimbor's shelves. 

Celebrimbor took a shaky breath, setting the book down on his desk. "You would think that when my own uncle was one of the driving forces behind our tax system, I would understand the system even the slightest bit. But I suppose I remain too much the boy I was when we left Valinor to have a mind for taxes." 

Lís reached a hand out, patting Celebrimbor's arm. "Most children do not understand taxes, though perhaps you are a bit old now not to." 

Celebrimbor laughed. "Children in Valinor did not understand them at all, and neither did our parents. We did not have taxes, at least not taxes such as these."

Lís blinked. This was new information, at least for her. The Elves of Beleriand were better represented in the libraries of the Dwarves than Valinor proper. "Than how did the king pay for work to be done?"

"We - I do not know, I suppose, other than to say Valinor was supposed to be paradise. There were gems strewn on the beaches, and we feasted on the foods that came to us from Yavanna's gardens and Oromë's forests, and we knew naught hunger," Celebrimbor said. "The Sindar had some form of taxes, I believe, but nothing like this, for Thingol did not take his army outside his borders to war after Denethor and inside his kingdom Melian provided for their people." 

Elves, Lís thought, were all too reliant on Maiar and Valar for their own good. But Celebrimbor appeared upset enough about the book without beginning that discussion. "So your uncle came up with the system of taxes?"

Celebrimbor nodded, looking back down at the book. "Caranthir did, I believe after consulting with some of the dwarves, actually. We needed the ability to trade and to purchase goods to supply our armies and build our cities. Caranthir was always the best of us at math and money." 

Lís nodded as well. "So the tax system arose somewhat suddenly after the arrival here?"

"Very suddenly." Celebrimbor laughed. "I can remember that day. My father had asked Caranthir to trade for ores, Maedhros had asked him to trade for grains, and word had come from Fingolfin that we needed more weapons. And uncle laughed, and asked what they expected him to trade with, pretty words like Finrod did?"

"A valid question." Lís itched to pick up the book and read it, if it explained any of this in more detail. 

"None of them had a solution, so Caranthir came up with his own solution. No one particularly liked it, but uncle never really cared." Celebrimbor's lips twitched, a half-pained, half-smile expression on his face. 

"I expect not, if he was the first elf among your people to institute taxes." 

"No, and my father and Celegorm were the most offended - they had many of my grandfather's works in their land, and when Caranthir designed the system, he taxed those works as being of the highest value." This time, Celebrimbor smiled fully. "Which I appreciate, even if it is the cause of my current troubles."

"Did you inherit your grandfather's works?" Lís refrained from looking around the room. Even if they were in the room, it would likely cause some offense. 

"Nay - well, a few, I can show you them if you wish. The rest sank with Beleriand, I suppose." Celebrimbor opened the book and pointed to a paragraph. "The problem is that when my Uncle wrote the laws, he was in a snit."

Looping handwriting filled the page. Lís was glad it was the same mode as Celebrimbor used, at least, breaking down the code. "This says that the works of the greatest smith of the Age are taxed at a rate one percent higher than the works of other smiths."

"Yes," Celebrimbor said. "And I tried to argue that Narvi was greater, and therefore exempt because these laws are only applicable to elves and I was exempt by virtue of not being the greatest. I am sure it will not surprise you that they did not accept the argument."

"They wish to tax your pieces more," Lís said distractedly, flipping through the book. 

"They wish to tax them more, including the ornaments on the city."

"Diplomatic gifts," Lís said after a moment, stopping on a page three-fourths of the way through the book.

"Diplomatic gifts?" Celebrimbor looked over her shoulder. 

"It says here that diplomatic gifts or items otherwised gained from non-elven sentiment beings, including but not limited to gems and jewelry, are considered still under the purview of the original owners and taxed according to that even if altered by the one currently possessing them. Therefore, because the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum contributed many of the gems inlaid in your ornaments, they are still taxed as though they belong to Dwarves." Lís pointed a finger at the line, underscoring her point. 

Celebrimbor blinked, looking at the line. "I suppose Uncle wrote that law in because of his trade with d Dwarves."

"Most likely," Lís agreed, still looking through the book. "If I complete your taxes for you, may I read this?"

"Of course," Celebrimbor said. "There are other books about the tax system somewhere here, I shall dig them out for your use."

The nice thing about this particular elf, Lís thought, was that a dwarf did not need to explain a wish for knowledge to him. "Thank you." 

"There is no need." His hand lingered on the book for a moment, before he pulled it back. "I shall have the rest brought to your office once they are located." 


End file.
